Why do you buy wood instead of scrounging it yourself?

[PA. Woodsman]

Just curious whatever reason people who buy wood do that instead of scrounging their own. Feel free to add any reason as to why.

 

[LLigetfa]

I guess other is as close to all of the above. I don't have anything to haul it in. I'm too anal about the length so I couldn't accept random length eyeballed cuts. I'm partial to Black Ash and there isn't much of that available to scrounge.

 

[myzamboni]

I don't buy it, I scrounge (so other)

 

[Todd]

I buy a little if the price is right and scrounge the majority whenever available. The price is starting to go up some as it's getting closer to Fall and free Craigs list scores are dwindling.

 

[daveswoodhauler]

I would scrounge more, but lack a hauling vehicle.
If I had a truck, I would keep a saw in the back...I have seen so much on the side of the road it would make me so mad...Subaru Forester only holds so much

 

[CarbonNeutral]

Other, because I scrounge. Prices have been heading north - $300 a cord on CL for 'seasoned', though there is still plenty of free wood postings around here..

 

[burntime]

Other for me. I am a self proclaimed scrounger extrodinaire!

 

[JoeyD]

I bought wood my first year knowing I wouldn't be able to get enough for the season. All along I knew I wouldn't have a problem scrounging more then I would need from then on. So should I check other?

 

[smokinj]

Other for me. I am a self proclaimed scrounger extrodinaire!

+1

 

[woodgeek]

I don't scrounge, cuz I don't have a truck or a trailer. The dead trees on my property keep me in WE fires, and I'll prob buy wood when/if I run out.

 

[Duetech]

My wood hauler is not road worthy and so I buy when my supply is low and the stuff on my farm is not accessible. When I can work overtime I can earn enough money to buy a full cord c/s/d in less time than I can do all the work it takes to scrounge and build a couple of cords without the cost of a road worthy wood hauler being involved. I like better btu types of wood than I have available and if I use the trees that I have nearby I will have to buy sooner or later. Lastly on my farm I have to wait for the farmer who leases my land to get his crops off before I go into the fence rows and woods and harvest wood and tear up the field. Bottom line I can get 6 cords of r & wh. oak, beech and hickory for $650.00 (sorry typo...$750) c/s/d and overtime at work gets me that wood in less time than I can scrounge it and that leaves more time for fishing.

 

[Dune]

My wood hauler is not road worthy and so I buy when my supply is low and the stuff on my farm is not accessible. When I can work overtime I can earn enough money to buy a full cord c/s/d in less time than I can do all the work it takes to scrounge and build a couple of cords without the cost of a road worthy wood hauler being involved. I like better btu types of wood than I have available and if I use the trees that I have nearby I will have to buy sooner or later. Lastly on my farm I have to wait for the farmer who leases my land to get his crops off before I go into the fence rows and woods and harvest wood and tear up the field. Bottom line I can get 6 cords of r & wh. oak, beech and hickory for $650.00 c/s/d and overtime at work gets me that wood in less time than I can scrounge it and that leaves more time for fishing.

If I could get that deal, I wouldn't scrounge either. But I can't. Not here on the Cape. I figure I put up almost $2000 worth of wood in my spare time this year. Tax free.

 

[burntime]

Yep dune, I have 8 cords at 250 a cord here. Works out to 2k as well.

 

[LLigetfa]

Tax free.

Don't most people pay cash on the dash?

 

[Dune]

Tax free.

Don't most people pay cash on the dash?

I suppose, but if you get a paycheck, and taxes are taken out, then you spend that money on wood, you paid taxes on it.

 

[stejus]

Spend most of my time away from work with kids and sports. I do find enough time in the fall to scrounge about a cord of wood, the rest I purchase and stack in the spring. At $130/cord for all hardwood green wood cut/split and delivered, I can't complain.

 

[Hurricane]

I am in my house 15 years and bought 1 cord of wood the first year. The guy delivering it asked why I was buying wood because I had so much behind my house. I explained that I just moved in and he would never be back again.
This past winter I found a posting on CL for 2-3 cords of hardwood logs for $50. I called and got 3 deliveries of logs at $50 each, they totaled about 4 cords so it came out to $37.50 per cord delivered in my driveway. I will take all of that I can get. I got red and white oak, hickory, ask and one pine log in each load. I have scrounged about another 3 cords this past year, and continue to scrounge.

I guess that makes me in between other and can buy cheeply

 

[forby]

I have been fighting the scrounge vs buy pole wood issue for the last few weeks...

Last year I got 8 cords of pole wood delivered for $600. I can only scrounge 1/2 to 2/3 of a cord at a time. By the time I figure my cost to operate and torture my jeep and trailer, I wonder if it' worth it.

Uneven, bug infested, random length wood hardly seems worth the price of free!! I have even had people tell me they want me to take the small branches and leaves. Someone even had the nerve to ask me if I was insured.

Remember..... there is no such thing as a free lunch!

 

[Dune]

I have been fighting the scrounge vs buy pole wood issue for the last few weeks...

Last year I got 8 cords of pole wood delivered for $600. I can only scrounge 1/2 to 2/3 of a cord at a time. By the time I figure my cost to operate and torture my jeep and trailer, I wonder if it' worth it.

Uneven, bug infested, random length wood hardly seems worth the price of free!! I have even had people tell me they want me to take the small branches and leaves. Someone even had the nerve to ask me if I was insured.

Remember..... there is no such thing as a free lunch!

If I could get wood that cheap I woulndn't scrounge either.

 

[freeburn]

Not sure where I would fit, probably OTHER. I block and split another guys wood for him from his land. I get half and he gets half, so I'm doing all the work but wood is free. Oh, and he's got the splitter too!

 

[LLigetfa]

I have been fighting the scrounge vs buy pole wood issue...

Fighting? I'd say "no contest!" at that price. To me, getting quality Ash logs at $100 per cord dropped in my yard beats me carrying out free Poplar/Aspen from my back acreage. Most years I cull only a cord or so of wood off my land.

It's funny how, when it was time to order up another 12 cord of Ash, the wife was reluctant saying I should be getting all that free wood out back. None the less, I wore her down and got my Ash. Later toward the Spring, I started burning some Aspen and Poplar I culled off my land and she complained about the stink and the fine ashes that flew everywhere every time the stove door was opened. I reminded her that it was her idea to burn that junk instead of the purchased Ash, but it kinda backfired on me. Now she wants to use the gas furnace more and the wood stove less. We'll see how that goes when she starts to miss the 78+ temps she likes to keep the house at and/or sees the big gas bills. None the less, I have two or three years worth of wood laid up so she has lots of time to decide.

 

[newstove]

Spend most of my time away from work with kids and sports. I do find enough time in the fall to scrounge about a cord of wood, the rest I purchase and stack in the spring. At $130/cord for all hardwood green wood cut/split and delivered, I can't complain.

Heck, if I could find green wood cut/split and delivered in Central MA for $130/cord I would stop scrounging too. Best I've found in Central MA is $165/cord c/s/d.

I can get tree length for $100/cord plus $150/load for delivery, or a 6-8 cord load (no guarantee on size of the load) for $750 - sometimes you get 6 cords, sometimes you get 8 cords. At those rates, and I typically shoot for 7 cords or so, it works out to $107-$121/cord if I get 7 cords out of it. So, if I could get $130/cord c/s/d, I'd jump at it instead and save myself some work.

 

[ROBERT F]

ITS A KINDA BUY IT KINDA SOURCE IT FOR ME! PERMIT TO CUT 1 CORD ON FOREST SERVICE LAND IS 10-15 BUCKS, AND ITS A SIXTY TO EIGHTY MILE ROUND TRIP. SO THE TEN CORDS I GET A YEAR COSTS ANYWHERE FROM 100 TO 150 PLUS FUEL, AND ALL DAY LOADING 10 TO 20 FOOT LOGS, AND A WEEK OF RECOVERY. THIS IS FOR PINE, SO IT GOES PRETTY QUICK IN TWO LIBERTY'S. THEY SEEM TO THINK THEY CAN GET 200-225 FOR A CORD OF SPLIT PINE DUMPED IN YOUR DRIVE, OR 400 TO 450 FOR A CORD OF OAK, HICKORY, OR "Hrd wood".

 

[JotulOwner]

Just curious whatever reason people who buy wood do that instead of scrounging their own. Feel free to add any reason as to why.

Availability, time, energy, distance, are all reasons why I scrounge when I can and buy when I can't scrounge.

I tried calling the tree guys who say they drop loads of logs for free, but I was only called once and I already had all the wood I could store. Also, I can't process large diameter rounds with my electric splitter. Moving them from the curb before the neighbors have a fit is also an issue.

I watch Craigslist for free wood opporunities, but there have been very few this year where I am. All of the wood I do buy I get from Craigslist because I pick it up and can see how it is stored (and how dry it is) before paying. Yeah, I could have the firewood guy deliver and check it before dumping/paying, but I can pretty much count on it not being all I expect for their price. By picking it up from Craigslist advertisers, I find more Mom and Pop sellers who season better and charge less. I can also get "semi-seasoned" at times and get a jump start on dry wood.

I have a car, so when I find a decent amount of wood, I rent a U-Haul trailer for $20 and tow a half cord at a time which is about the weight limit for the car and trailer.

Here in the Metro NY area, you see all kinds of firewood peddlers. One guy is selling "organic firewood" (mostly to the Manhattan Yuppies). Another guy sells "fruitwood" for $1400 a cord (he makes it sound affordable by selling face cords or less). But, most of them just sell unseasoned wood. The problem is the cost of properly stacking, storing, and delivering it (labor, space, rent, taxes, etc.). That is why many of the tree guys give it away for free (no dumping fees and they can focus their efforts on removing trees for many thousands of dollars for a day or less of work). Firewood is much too labor intensive and doesn't produce the profits that tree removal does.

 

[Todd]

Well, when I can fill my 5x8x2 trailer with already cut Oak rounds for $20, I'll buy! Going tonight to get a load, the guy says he had 12 Oaks cut down. I'm running out of room, but can't pass a deal like that up. Even the wife was excited! :cheese: